In recent years, mobile wireless communications have become increasingly popular. While desktop computers will likely remain a part of the network for a substantial period of time, mobile devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), smartphones, cell phones, tablet PCs and other portable computers are rapidly gaining popularity. Many mobile devices have interfaces enabling communications via local area network (LAN) wireless access points (hereinafter “wireless hotspot networks” or “hotspots”) designed to allow transportable devices to connect to wireless networks, such as IEEE 802.11 (“WiFi”) network type wireless access points. Such hotspots frequently provide Internet access to a mobile device user, and mobile device users may thus connect to hotspots for the purpose of attaining Internet access. Mobile networks, which provide two way radio communication links via base stations, also provide Internet access to many of the modern mobile devices.
The mobile devices with capability of accessing to a mobile network and the hotspot network usually are sold at a point of sale (POS) of the mobile network carrier and activated for Internet access at the POS at the time of purchase. Recently, sales channels have diversified such that buyers can buy the mobile devices via websites and markets other than the POS of the mobile network carrier. In these later purchase channels, a buyer purchases only a mobile device via a website or another non-carrier market without buying a data plan to access the mobile network, therefore the buyer needs to activate the mobile device on buyer's own by buying data plan of the mobile network. To facilitate this type of user activation, the mobile devices thus should have a limited accessibility to only websites or platforms of the appropriate mobile network carrier for activation of the mobile devices. General access via the hotspot or mobile network becomes available only after activation.
In another scenario, a mobile device user has a previously activated mobile device with a prepaid data plan for the mobile network. In such a case, the user is not allowed access to the mobile network, i.e. the device is effectively de-activated, when the prepaid balance has been used up. The mobile network carrier, however, wants to provide limited user access to only a website or platform of the carrier for the user to buy another prepaid data plan (to “replenish” the prepaid amount), and the carrier desires to restrict the user's access to other websites until the device is re-activated.
In both cases, even if the mobile device tries to connect an IP session with other websites such as “Google” or “Yahoo,” the mobile device having limited access will need to go only to the website or platform of the mobile network carrier for activation of the mobile device. A conventional way to redirect the IP session requests of the mobile device to the web portal or platform of the mobile network is to wait for two failures of accessing a desired website, after which the mobile device is redirected to a website of the mobile network carrier for activation of the mobile device. This conventional redirection technique is slow since the redirection is performed only after two access failures, and this technique is unreliable because the failure of access may be caused by reasons other than the non-authorization of IP session communication or low usage of data plan balance such as web site or Internet service outages. Also, the reliance on two failed attempts provides a poor customer experience to the device user.
A need exists for providing a method and a system for redirecting an IP session establishment request from a mobile device, which is not authorized for wireless communication to a web portal or platform via which the mobile device activates wireless communication via a cellular network.